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Authors: Wayne Thomas Batson

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Isle of Swords

© 2007 by Wayne Thomas Batson.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Scripture references are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email [email protected].

Interior art and layout by Casey Hooper.

ISBN 978-1-4003-1363-1 (trade paper)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Batson, Wayne Thomas, 1968–
Isle of Swords / by Wayne Thomas Batson.
     p. cm.
Summary: A young man awakens on an island, alone and seriously injured, with no memory, and as he searches for his identity he finds himself caught between two notorious pirates battling for a legendary treasure reportedly hidden by monks.
    ISBN 978-1-4003-1018-0 (hardcover)
[1. Castaways—Fiction. 2. Identity—Fiction. 3. Pirates—Fiction. 4. Buried treasure—Fiction. 5. Christian life—Fiction. 6. Spanish Main—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.B3238Isl 2007
[Fic]—dc22

2007005580

Printed in the United States of America
09 10 11 12 RRD 8 7 6 5 4 3

T
O THE
M
ASTER OF WIND AND WAVE
,
I
WILL FOLLOW
Y
OU INTO UNCHARTED TERRITORY
.

CONTENTS

PRINCIPAL CAST

NAUTICAL TERMS

Chapter 1
A BLACK BIRD IN THE STORM

Chapter 2
ECHOES OF CANNON FIRE

Chapter 3
THE WILLIAM WALLACE

Chapter 4
CAREENING

Chapter 5
THE BUTCHER

Chapter 6
A DESPERATE PLAN

Chapter 7
CROSSING SWORDS

Chapter 8
CAPTAIN'S FALL

Chapter 9
DEATH'S-HEAD ON SABLE

Chapter 10
HIDE AND SEEK

Chapter 11
ILHA DE ESPADAS

Chapter 12
THE CAT'S OUT OF THE BAG

Chapter 13
AN UNEASY ALLIANCE

Chapter 14
MAGNIFIQUE JACQUES ST. PIERRE

Chapter 15
GHOST TOWN

Chapter 16
GLT

Chapter 17
ROOFTOP HOPPING

Chapter 18
A CORAL TIGER

Chapter 19
ROSS'S PLAN

Chapter 20
RAID UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS

Chapter 21
STALEMATE

Chapter 22
RACE FOR THE MILL

Chapter 23
THE END OF DECLAN ROSS

Chapter 24
GRAVEROBBERS

Chapter 25
THE LOCKET

Chapter 26
WRITTEN ON HER HEART

Chapter 27
MOSES'S LAW

Chapter 28
THE ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT

Chapter 29
OF SLAVES AND CAPTAINS

Chapter 30
THREE FATEFUL DECISIONS

Chapter 31
HARBINGER OF DOOM

Chapter 32
THE FALL OF THE WILLIAM WALLACE

Chapter 33
ONE LASH TOO MANY

Chapter 34
A MAN ABOUT A BOAT

Chapter 35
A VAST OCEAN

Chapter 36
VESA'S ARK

Chapter 37
DESTINATIONS AND DETOURS

Chapter 38
THE ROBERT BRUCE

Chapter 39
GHOSTS AT SEA AND ON LAND

Chapter 40
RIDDLES

Chapter 41
CROSSCURRENTS

Chapter 42
THE ISLE OF SWORDS

Chapter 43
THE WATCHER

Chapter 44
THE RED TRAIL

Chapter 45
THE HOLY KEEP

Chapter 46
THE FIRST MUTINY

Chapter 47
TRIAL BY FIRE

Chapter 48
THE SECOND MUTINY

Chapter 49
GHOSTS OF THE PAST

Chapter 50
THE EVE OF DESTRUCTION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PRINCIPAL CAST

DECLAN ROSS
Red-bearded Scottish pirate; captain of the
William Wallace.

ANNE ROSS
Feisty daughter of Declan Ross; longs to be a pirate.

STEDE
West Indian sailor, quartermaster, and second-in-command of the
William Wallace.

MIDGE
The main carpenter on the
William Wallace
; he has extremely bad teeth and horrendous breath.

NUBBY
The cook and doctor on the
William Wallace
; he has a walrus moustache and only one arm.

CROMWELL
The bosun of the
William Wallace
; he has a very flat face and wears one large gold earring.

JULES
Deck hand on the
William Wallace
; also acts as Anne's bodyguard. Jules is a gigantic muscular pirate. He has a bristly moustache and wears a black skullcap.

RED EYE
A powder monkey, i.e., one of the quick fellows who sprints down to the hull to get black powder for the cannons. Red Eye is blind in one eye, and his cheek is scarred from an explosion that took place while he was doing his job.

CAT
A young man who awakens on an island, alone and seriously injured, with no memory. Rescued by the crew of the
William Wallace
, he searches for his identity.

JACQUES ST. PIERRE
Former French naval officer turned private businessman; he has a penchant for fire and explosives.

PADRE DOMINGUEZ
Priest of the Brethren who travels with the
William Wallace.

THIERRY CHEVILLARD
Bartholomew Thorne's lieutenant; called the Butcher because of his murderous past.

BARTHOLOMEW THORNE
The most notorious—and ruthless—pirate in the Caribbean; Thorne wants to build a pirate fleet large enough to control the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

MR. SKELLICK
Bartholomew Thorne's quartermaster.

SCULLY
Bartholomew Thorne's spy and chief source of information.

COMMODORE BLAKE
Young leader of the British naval forces in the Caribbean; commissioned to hunt pirates on the Spanish Main.

SIR NIGEL
Commodore Blake's adviser and right-hand man.

VESA TURINEN
Very old—and very rich—sailor, always ready to make a deal.

RAMIRO DE FERRO GONCALO
Portuguese shipbuilder; likes to duel.

NAUTICAL TERMS

Aft:
the back of the ship.

Bow:
front of the ship.

Bowsprit:
long pole extending forward from the bow of the ship.

Crow's-nest:
the highest platform on the mainmast used as a lookout point.

Forecastle
: the front of the ship, often where the crew's quarters are located.

Halyard:
rope used to pull a sail up.

Hull:
The body of a boat or ship.

Jib-rigged:
ship's sails that are triangular in shape.

Keel:
the structural spine that runs along the bottom of the ship.

Mast:
tall pole that supports all the ship's sails.

Poop Deck:
rearmost deck of the ship.

Port:
if standing on the deck and facing the front of the ship, port is left.

Quarterdeck:
raised deck behind the mainmast where the ship's wheel is found.

Spar-collar:
(sometimes known as a gooseneck) a moveable iron collar used to hold horizontal spars to the mast.

Spar:
long horizontal pole that a sail is attached to.

Square-rigged:
ship's sails that are square in shape.

Starboard:
if standing on the deck and facing the front of the ship, starboard is right.

Stern:
the back of the ship.

The watch:
a four-hour period when a sailor is on duty.

1
A BLACK BIRD IN THE STORM

P
apa, I'm scared!” the little girl cried out as she slid awkwardly across the deck. Before she could regain her balance, she crashed into her father's arms.

“Oh, Dolphin!” he said, shielding her from sheets of rain and sea spray. “What are you doing up here?”

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